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**
"Fine, but first, tell me—I've never wronged you, so why are you following me?"
Suppressing his panic, Lin Feng asked in a calm tone.
As he spoke, a sneer flickered across his heart.
Although he didn't know where this old man came from, Lin Feng was certain that even if he handed over Furious Lion Roar, the other party wouldn't let him go.
Still, he wanted to figure out the old man's background first. That way, if he ever needed revenge in the future, he would know where to find him.
After all, this elder didn't seem like a lone wanderer—he was more like a member of some faction.
At the same time, Lin Feng fully unleashed his soul perception, locking onto the old man to prevent him from vanishing from his senses again.
He had walked all this way without noticing the man at all. That realization alone made him extremely tense.
"Brat, it seems you're stubborn. Today, I'll show you that a Dou Ling is not someone a mere Da Dou Shi like you can contend with!"
Hearing Lin Feng trying to probe his identity, the old man immediately realized his intentions had been exposed.
With a furious shout, a set of dark armor suddenly materialized over his body.
He had originally planned to trick Lin Feng into handing over the Dou Technique. But now, he could only kill the brat first and then search his storage ring for it.
"Phantom Shadow Palm!"
The moment the old man's words fell, a massive, dark palm print—several meters tall—suddenly formed in the air and pressed down toward Lin Feng.
"Dark attribute! No wonder!"
Seeing this, Lin Feng immediately understood why he hadn't detected the old man before.
The dark attribute was inherently skilled in concealment. Moreover, families or factions with this attribute usually had their own stealth techniques. Combined, they were nearly impossible to detect.
Watching the incoming palm strike, Lin Feng dared not be careless. He quickly activated his Cultivation technique and gathered all his Dou Qi.
As his Dou Qi surged violently, a massive purple lion suddenly appeared in the air once more.
"Boom!"
As the purple lion clashed with the dark palm print, it was clear that Lin Feng's Dou Qi was inferior in both quality and quantity.
In less than three seconds, he was overwhelmed by the force and sent flying backward. However, he used his movement technique midair to shift to the side and avoid further impact.
The dark palm print weakened slightly, but the remaining energy still surged forward.
When it finally dissipated, it had wiped out an entire patch of forest, turning it into barren ground.
"Whoosh~"
Seeing Lin Feng dodge, the old man immediately realized his attack had missed. Without hesitation, he shot forward at high speed.
"Piercing Heart Finger!"
As the elder neared, Lin Feng's fingertip suddenly glowed with a sharp golden light as he thrust it forward.
"Bang!"
As their Dou Techniques clashed, their Dou Qi erupted fiercely.
The instant their attacks collided, powerful waves of Dou Qi scattered in all directions.
The ground was stripped of its topsoil, and the surrounding trees were snapped in half, toppling one after another.
Although Lin Feng's Dou Technique had the upper hand in quality, the gap in Dou Qi levels was still too vast.
As the Piercing Force secretly infiltrated the old man's body, Lin Feng swiftly withdrew.
However, there was still a price to pay—a powerful Dou Qi strike landed on Lin Feng's chest, sending him tumbling backward over ten meters.
"Ugh—!"
Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, Lin Feng smirked bitterly.
Thanks to his Sea Heart Armor, he had only suffered minor injuries.
But the sharp pain from slamming into the ground made him grit his teeth.
"As expected, the gap between Dou Ling and Da Dou Shi isn't so easily bridged. And this guy... he's at least a mid-level Dou Ling."
"Brat, die— wait, what the hell is this?!"
Just as the old man leaped forward again, a sharp force suddenly erupted within his body, wreaking havoc inside him.
He immediately stopped attacking and focused on suppressing the force.
Fortunately, though the energy was hidden, he could expel it within seconds.
"Now's my chance!"
Lin Feng knew this force alone couldn't kill a Dou Ling, but it had given him an opportunity.
Without hesitation, he swallowed a few Qi Recovery Pills.
"Explosive Step!"
Ignoring the cost of using his Beast Flame, he gripped two jade bottles in his hands.
With a sudden explosion of Dou Qi beneath his feet, he shot toward the old man at full speed.
"Crack!"
The moment Lin Feng slammed the bottles together, they shattered instantly.
Two rare Rank 5 Beast Flame Seeds within them violently clashed against each other.
Sensing an unfamiliar force, the two flames instinctively repelled each other.
But Lin Feng swiftly bound them together with Dou Qi, preventing them from escaping.
"Damn, good thing I preloaded my mouth with Qi Recovery Pills—this Rank 5 Beast Flame drains way too much Dou Qi!"
Feeling his Dou Qi depleting at an alarming rate, Lin Feng hurriedly swallowed another pill.
As time passed, the two flames, forced under pressure, began to slowly merge.
"What kind of monstrous energy is this?!"
Sensing the danger, the old man's face twisted in horror.
He no longer had the will to fight and turned to flee.
But Lin Feng had no intention of letting him escape.
Using Explosive Step, he quickly gave chase.
As the high-speed pursuit continued, Lin Feng swallowed his final Qi Recovery Pill.
By then, the fireball in his hands had reached a critical point.
The energy within the two flames grew increasingly volatile.
Unable to suppress the violent power any longer, Lin Feng's hands were forcibly pushed apart.
Staring at the rapidly expanding fireball, Lin Feng, who had experienced many explosions before, knew exactly what was coming.
At the same time, the old man—seeing the unstable, raging fireball—cursed angrily, "You little bastard! If you want to die, don't drag me with you!"
But Lin Feng had no time to care about his complaints.
The moment the Beast Flame showed signs of detonating, he hurled it toward the fleeing old man.
Then, without hesitation, he summoned his Black Profound Rock Shield, spread his Purple Cloud Wings, and retreated at full speed.
"Boom!"
A thunderous explosion erupted in the forest moments later.
The combined energy of the two Rank 5 Beast Flames was fully unleashed in that instant.
The shockwave blasted the ground, sending dirt and debris soaring dozens of meters into the sky.
The once-flat road was now marred by a massive crater several meters deep.
Nearby trees had not been spared either—the once-dense forest had completely vanished, leaving only shattered wood fragments drifting through the air.
Even though Lin Feng had retreated as far as possible from the explosion, he still felt its immense shockwave.
First, his Black Profound Rock Shield shattered.
Then, his external Dou Qi shield crumbled.
Next, his Dou Qi Armor disintegrated.
Finally, waves of scorching energy slammed into his body, sending him crashing heavily into a giant tree.
"Cough, cough... As expected of Rank 5 Beast Flames—this power is leagues beyond the Rank 3 and Rank 4 beast flames I experimented with before. Good thing I had the Sea Heart Armor from Yun Yun. Otherwise, I'd be in a world of pain right now."
Lin Feng murmured to himself as he surveyed the destruction before him.
Then, he sat down and swallowed a healing pill.
Feeling the cool pale-blue armor beneath his torn robes, he couldn't help but think about Flame Mantra—the technique that could neutralize fire's repulsion.
"If I had that technique, I'd be able to control the explosion remotely. I wouldn't have to rely on getting blasted myself and praying for luck. Right now, my fights are just as dangerous for me as they are for my enemies."
"Ahhh! You little bastard!"
A furious scream interrupted his thoughts.
The Dou Ling, who had been closest to the explosion, was now sprawled on the ground, cursing Lin Feng non-stop.
Lacking proper defenses, his body was covered in gruesome wounds—his flesh had been torn open, exposing layers of fatty tissue.
The extreme heat had charred his exposed flesh black.
On top of that, the Piercing Force lingering in his body had ravaged his internal organs, causing severe internal injuries.
The combination of all these injuries left him in an utterly miserable state.
Seeing this, Lin Feng sighed once again.
If he had been able to fully control the timing of the explosion, the Dou Ling wouldn't have had a chance to escape even a short distance.
If that had been the case, the old man would've been blown to dust by now.
"Ying~ Ying~"
At some point, Xiao Cai had appeared in midair, swishing her tail in frustration.
She seemed annoyed, as if telling Lin Feng that she could easily take down a five-star Dou Ling with a single tail strike.
"Haha, I can't always rely on you. As long as the gap isn't overwhelming, I should handle things myself—consider it practice."
Lin Feng chuckled as he gently stroked her small head.
However, when he thought about the two destroyed Beast Flames, his heart ached.
Over a million gold coins—gone in an instant.
Especially the Beast Flame he had just purchased—not even warmed up yet, and already wasted.
"Hiss hiss~"
Just as Xiao Cai was enjoying Lin Feng's touch, she suddenly sensed a powerful aura approaching.
She immediately lifted her head and alerted Lin Feng of the incoming danger.
"Someone's coming?"
Lin Feng followed Xiao Cai's gaze, staring at the seemingly empty sky.
His expression tensed, and he quickly got up.
His legs, unprotected by the Sea Heart Armor, were badly burned.
Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to stand despite the searing pain.
Then, without hesitation, he strode over to the injured Dou Ling and delivered a fatal palm strike, ending his life.
After looting the old man's storage ring, Lin Feng swiftly left with Xiao Cai.
Shortly after Lin Feng's departure…
A black-clad figure descended rapidly from the sky, landing at the battle's aftermath.
"A nine-star Da Dou Shi and a five-star Dou Ling… and they still failed? Useless trash!"
With a cold snort, the black-cloaked man retracted his Dou Qi wings and stepped toward the corpse of the Dou Ling.
Sensing the lingering aura in the air, he muttered to himself,
"His strength doesn't exceed Dou Ling… Three different Beast Flames… But one of them should be at least Rank 5 or higher… Headed toward Peace Town and that direction…"
His gaze shifted toward the distant Jia Nan Academy, a hint of wariness flashing in his eyes.
Suddenly, he noticed something—
The corpse's hand was empty.
The storage ring was gone.
His pupils contracted sharply.
"Damn it! The Stealth Technique is gone! How am I supposed to explain this to the Sect Master?!"
Realizing the magnitude of the situation, the black-clad man seethed with rage.
He wanted to kill the dead Dou Ling all over again.
Their Shadow Squad specialized in ambushing and eliminating travelers, taking their valuable items, and selling them off later.
All the major factions knew about this practice.
But since everyone did it, nobody ever spoke about it.
However, their squad's Stealth Technique had been passed down from their Sect Master since his Dou Wang days.
If word got out, many people would recognize it immediately.
And if that survivor revealed that Black Seal City was secretly assassinating its own auction customers…
Lesser cultivators would stop attending their auctions out of fear.
Their auction house's profits would take a massive hit.
And if that happened…
The Sect Master might turn him into a human lantern.
"No… I have to find that guy and kill him—immediately."
With that thought, he spread his Dou Qi wings and flew swiftly toward Black Seal City.
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